


Bad Timing

by Yadirocks



Category: Baseball RPF
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-07
Updated: 2016-08-07
Packaged: 2018-07-28 12:25:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7640092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yadirocks/pseuds/Yadirocks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yadier hates it when he knows what's right but he does the wrong thing anyway.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bad Timing

"Yadi."

He could hear someone rummaging around his room, but he didn't want to wake up. He was in a cocoon of blankets and comfortably warm. Maybe they'd go away and let him sleep some more. 

"Yadi."

This time, someone shook him, but he didn't budge. It couldn't be time to get up already. "Five more minutes," he begged, curling onto his side and hiding his face in the blankets. 

"Let him sleep, Holli, he doesn't get to sleep for very long anymore," someone else whispered. There was a huff, and then he heard who he now knew was Matt whisper, "Fine, but he's going to be mad that we didn't wake him up."

At this point, going back to sleep was going to be hard because now he was alert and awake. He wanted to cry. He wanted the bliss and warmth to come back, but now he was just uncomfortable. "You jerks," Yadier muttered, before sitting up with a yawn. "Can't sleep now. What is it?" 

He opened his eyes to see Adam typing on his laptop (how he knew his password, he had no idea) and Matt was standing between Adam and the bed, watching what he was typing over his shoulder. Matt looked at Yadier, mischief in his eyes and a smile on his face. "Go shower and get dressed, I can smell you from here," the outfielder said, ignoring his question.

Yadier sighed, wrapping a blanket around himself. It was chilly in his hotel room, which he didn't like. He went to the thermostat and turned the heat up, clutching his blanket closer with a shiver. This wasn't the first time Holli and Waino had woken him up in the middle of the night. He could see that it was still dark out, and a glance at the clock told him it was one in the morning. 

He stumbled into the bathroom, catching a glance of himself in the mirror. He looked away quickly because he looked like death and started his shower. 

By the time he had gotten dressed, it was warmer in the room, to his relief. Yadier brushed a comb through his wet hair and then stepped into the bedroom once more.

"Well it says here that the party starts at two, so we've got a bit of time to get over there," Adam said, clicking on something. Matt was crouched down and looking over his shoulder. He looked up when Yadier came in. "Man, Yadi, this party is going to be off the charts. I heard that last year, this guy jumped off a balcony and into a swimming pool naked," he said with a laugh, and Adam gave it a chuckle as well.

Yadier blinked. Since when did they think he wanted to go to a party? "We can't go, guys. We have a game tomorrow. Mike will kill us, and I'd rather stay here. If we go to that party, what type of example are we setting? We'd be sneaking out, getting drunk, and doing God knows what," he tried to reason. He knew this was a bad idea. He could feel it growing in the pit of his stomach.

However, Matt stood and put an arm around his shoulders. "Yadiiii, don't be such a party pooper. When is the last time we got to have a little fun? We're always following the rules and doing what everyone says. No one's gonna know. We're missing out on the good times. Don't you want just one more time to feel alive?" Matt asked.

Yadier opened his mouth to say no, but something stopped him. It was probably because Matt was right. He hadn't really gotten to go out and actually enjoy life in a very long time. It had been so long that Yadier couldn't even remember the last party that he had went to that hadn't been a birthday party. 

The bad feeling was still settled in his stomach, though, and it made him feel queasy. Matt squeezed his shoulder. "It's your choice," he said nonchalantly. Before he could stop himself, he said, "I'll go, but I won't like it."

Holli gave him a big smile. "I knew you would say that. Don't worry, I'll make sure you have a fantastic time and that you loosen up a little," Matt said, before Adam turned around in the swivel chair. "What are we waiting for? Let's go," he said, grabbing his keys off the counter. He and Matt walked out, Yadier following behind them. He should turn around and go back to bed. His brain was screaming at him that this was a bad idea, but he got in the elevator with Matt and Adam anyway.

************

The noise was too loud. Everything spun wildly. The walls wouldn't stay still, and the ceiling was seeming to cave in on him. The floor tilted dangerously beneath him, threatening to send him sprawling to the floor any minute. He very well might've plummeted already, if not for Matt and Adam dancing around him and keeping him upright. 

He didn't feel right. Yadier was confident that this was the worst he had ever felt in his entire life. He squeezed his eyes shut, red dots still wiggling in the darkness. He couldn't breathe. Yadier felt like he was suffocating both due to the heat and the fact that Holli was pouring more alcohol down his throat. Even though he felt so horrible, everything felt more loose. Maybe he just hadn't been drunk in a long time and this was the effect.

However, he was pretty sure that seeing double wasn't usually a good sign. Matt was in front of him, he knew, but he couldn't hear him. Someone grabbed his arm, and there was yelling. He wanted it all to stop. The noise. The movement. The sick feeling he had that had now intensified. He was going to throw up, but he couldn't get his shaking legs to move to the bathroom. Why had he ever thought this was a good idea? 

He then remembered that he hadn't thought it was a good idea and that he had actually given in to peer pressure. He deserved what he got. Everything was filled with red now when he opened his eyes, and he grabbed onto Adam's shoulder before everything went black.

**********

The noise was too loud. That was his first coherent thought. People were talking, and he wanted them to stop. His head pounded viciously, and he was aware that it felt like a million tons of lead. Lifting it wouldn't be possible anytime soon. He heard a groan, and then realized it had come from him. He didn't dare move a muscle, afraid that doing so would make his head hurt more.

Now someone was yelling, and there was light. Yadier had never felt more pain in his entire life, and he tried to turn away, but it hurt to do so. The light was turned off, to his relief, and his aching head went from unbearable to almost unbearable. 

He didn't know he had fallen asleep until the darkness became light again. This time, he could hear the voices, and could understand them. "Mike's going to kill us, Holli. What do we do? We can't just leave him here the entire game by himself! He'll die!"

There was a sigh. "I've got a plan, alright? We just need some time, and we need Yadi to wake up so we know he's not in a coma," was the response.

Yadier groaned in response. It went silent, before a cold hand was pressed to his forehead. "Yadi? Stay with us, bud, open your eyes."

He tried, he really did, but his head throbbed and he just didn't have the strength. He could only murmur, "Hurts."

There was a soft exhale of breath, a small sigh, before the same voice answered, "I know. I'm so sorry, Yadi. We'll make it up to you, okay?"

"I think we need to worry about that later, and worry about what we're going to do now. He can't play like this. I mean, you saw him on the way back here, Waino. We couldn't hit a speed bump without him throwing up," Matt said.

Another moment of silence. Yadier just wanted them to turn the lights off and let him sleep some more. Everything ached. 

"We need to tell Mike, Matt," Adam whispered. "We owe it to Yadi. He's suffering, and needs medical attention. The only way to get him help is to tell Mike. He was right. We aren't setting a good example, but we could make it right again by telling the truth."

Yadier was relieved because he heard the word 'help.' He really needed help. He felt like someone was trying to bust open his head with an axe. There was another moment of silence. Yadier thought they may start arguing until Matt said, "I know. I just wish there was another way, but there's not."

Yadier honestly didn't care if he got in trouble or if the two idiots in the room got in trouble either. All he cared about was trying to breathe without feeling nauseous and also trying to keep himself from passing out every time the bed moved ever so slightly. He doubted he would get punished severely, because this was punishment enough, he hoped. After all, feeling pain in your head with the intensity of a thousand suns was bad enough.

***********

Yadier spent the next two days with a wet washcloth draped over his eyes to help with his raging headache. Adam and Matt weren't around much anymore, making him believe that maybe Mike was keeping them busy. Matheny and Mozeliak were the two that spent the most time in his room. He had been reprimanded as well, but he knew he wouldn't really be scolded until he had fully recovered because he couldn't really process a thought at the moment. Everything was jumbled together and he couldn't tell how long he'd been suffering like this, days or hours.

Mike scoffed as he rewet the towel and draped it back over his eyes. "You're lucky we're even helping you at all. What were you thinking, Yadier? I expect this type of behavior out of Matt and Adam, but you? I'm very disappointed," he said. 

That stung. He DID understand that, all too well, and his heart hurt hearing those words come from Mike's mouth. "Wasn't thinking," he murmured softly. He wasn't just saying that because he knew it was the right thing to say. He truly hadn't been thinking when he had left the hotel room that night. If he had, he would've known better.

Mike sighed in anger. Yadier felt awful, and not just because of his headache. "I'm sorry, Coach," he whispered sadly. It wasn't enough to describe how he felt, but getting it off his chest right now might help. 

Instead, he received eery silence. "You should be," was the response. 

**********

He couldn't look Mike in the eye, even when he was finally able to open them. He'd sit in the small meetings or the dugout, staring at his shoes, nodding when Mike said something.

"Yadi, go get my water bottle for me, please," Mike said after a hard running exercise that left his legs shaking and his chest aching. He didn't dare say no. He nodded. He put his head down and ran to the dugout and back, ready to topple over. "And the bucket of baseballs too," Mike chimed, and Yadier could only nod and run to and fro once more. 

By the time he got back, his legs felt like jello. Sweat poured down his forehead and neck. "Oh, and the catcher's gear," Mike said. Yadier nodded weakly, racing back to the dugout and hauling the heavy catchers bag back to the bullpen as fast as he could. He could hardly bend down to place it on the ground when he returned.

He could feel Mike's eyes on him, and he waited for his next request, almost sure he'd be making another trip. "Sit," Mike said instead, and Yadier sat on the bench slowly, trying to steady his breathing. He lay his head against the brick and closed his eyes, cooling down.

Hands were on his shoulders. "Look at me," Mike ordered. Yadier couldn't. He would do anything Mike said. He'd make a thousand trips back and forth from the bullpen to the dugout and back again. He'd do a million running exercises. But he couldn't look his coach in the eye. He was a disappointment in his eyes. 

"Look at me or you won't play," Mike said. Yadier sighed, opening his eyes. He struggled, but finally met Mike's gaze, forcing himself not to look away. "I hope you learned your lesson," Mike said. Yadier swallowed hard and nodded. "I'm sorry, Coach," he said for what felt like the thousandth time. "I...I don't know what I was thinking, and I'm sorry I disappointed you. It won't happen again. I promise."

"It better not," Mike said. "Or I won't make sure you're back on your feet as soon as possible."

Yadier nodded. "I'm sorry," he said again, closing his eyes as he said this. He wanted so badly for Mike to believe him. It was killing him that Mike was still angry.

Finally, finally, Mike said, "I know you are. You made a bad decision. Everyone does. Let's move on from it, okay?" 

Yadier nodded again, and Mike patted his shoulder. "You know, I actually let you off easy," he said, amusement in his voice. "That's mostly because I know those two dingalings were the masterminds behind you going out. They're cleaning out the showers the entire week."

And that's how Yadier knew that everything was fine once more.


End file.
